Twitter CFO Says Trump’s Ban Is Permanent – Even If He Runs For Office Again
Feb 11, 2021, 7:46 AM
Donald Trump turns to reporters as he exits the White House to walk toward Marine One on the South Lawn on January 12, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
(Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Former President Donald Trump will not be permitted back on Twitter even if he runs again for office and wins, according to the company’s chief financial officer.
Asked during an interview on CNBC Wednesday whether Trump’s tweeting privileges could be restored if he wins the presidency again, CFO Ned Segal clarified that Trump’s ban is permanent.
“The way our policies work, when you’re removed from the platform, you’re removed from the platform,” he said, “whether you’re a commentator, you’re a CFO, or you are a former or current public official. Remember, our policies are designed to make sure that people are not inciting violence, and if anybody does that, we have to remove them from the service and our policies don’t allow people to come back.”
The statement comes amid Trump’s impeachment trial in Congress. If he is acquitted, Trump would not be barred from seeking the presidency or another federal office.
Twitter took the unprecedented step of banning Trump last month after some of Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol. At the time, Twitter said it was permanently suspending Trump “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”
By the time of the crackdown, Twitter had already temporarily locked Trump’s account over several tweets that it said contributed to an elevated risk of violence.
Twitter’s decision to ban Trump came amid a flurry of other tech company enforcement actions against his accounts, including Facebook’s decision to prohibit Trump from posting “indefinitely” and YouTube’s decision to begin issuing strikes to Trump’s video channel.
